For many years Sarah Gayle Carter designed products for the home furnishings market. Best known for her line of custom rugs, she also turned her hand to mirrors, lamps, plates, furniture, and even scarves. Then, in 2007, she picked up her brushes again to paint in oils, something she hadn’t done since art school. “I wanted to play with line, form and color, to feel paint move under my hand. I wanted to paint for the shear joy and simple, direct pleasure of it. After so many years of working in a medium that requires very controlled expression, I’m having a great time with the looseness and freedom of this most traditional of all art forms.”

"Coming from years spent as a designer, I respond to line, form, and color wherever I find them. I'm drawn to clean compositions, and tend to pare down my subject matter. I like to feel the texture of the paint and see the color hiding under the surface of forms. There's something inherently sensuous about the very process of painting. Whether land, or sea, or skin, I can almost feel my brush stroking the subject's surface as I work. Its magic."

As a lark, Carter painted a few high-spirited, expressionistic, dog portraits. . Dubbed “Color Dogs”, the energetic and appealing results were an immediate hit with dog lovers, and have taken on a life of their own. Carter’s “Color Dog” portraits have a funky, off beat freshness that manage to convey not only the likeness, but also the personality of her animal subjects. With skillful brushwork and unerring eye, beloved pets come alive with an uncanny energy and presence, felt by owners and casual observers alike. www.colordogs.com